WEST CHESTER, Ohio,
Sept. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- AK
Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that the company has introduced
CHROMESHIELD™ 22, a new nickel-free stainless steel product with
enhanced benefits and stable pricing for customers.
CHROMESHIELD 22 was developed by AK Steel at its Research Center in
Middletown, Ohio, principally for
manufacturers of appliance and food service equipment, tubing,
cookware, automotive exhaust components and heat exchangers.
After rigorous testing and customer trials, CHROMESHIELD 22 has
proven itself to be an attractive, lower-cost material solution
with numerous manufacturing benefits across several of the most
demanding applications.
Similar to nickel-bearing stainless steels, CHROMESHIELD 22 is
rust and stain resistant with excellent corrosion properties.
In numerous applications, the corrosion resistance of
CHROMESHIELD 22 will meet or exceed the performance of conventional
nickel-bearing stainless steels. This breakthrough in
technology will better maintain both the integrity and appearance
of the product versus many higher priced stainless steels.
In addition, CHROMESHIELD 22 withstands extreme changes in
temperature better than nickel-bearing grades of stainless steel
used for comparable applications. This is particularly
important to manufacturers of automotive exhaust components,
cookware and heat exchangers, as CHROMESHIELD 22 offers enhanced
protection against both oxidation and temperature-related stress
and fatigue fractures.
AK Steel's CHROMESHIELD 22 also has been approved by NSF
International, a leading health and public safety organization, as
safe for food contact. This is a critical benefit for the
food service equipment market.
AK Steel's CHROMESHIELD 22 is produced in America, allowing
customers to secure domestic sourcing for their U.S. manufacturing
operations. Since CHROMESHIELD 22 does not contain nickel,
pricing is more predictable than the extremely volatile
fluctuations of nickel-bearing steels, whose costs are driven by
nickel trading on the London Metal Exchange.
Among the many products and processes developed by AK Steel
throughout its history, the company pioneered the world's first
continuous hot rolling sheet mill in the 1920's. Its
trailblazing research also led to the development of various types
of electrical steels used in power transmission and distribution
equipment. And, the company helped revolutionize the
automotive exhaust market in the 1990's with the introduction of
specific types of aluminized stainless steels. Today, in
addition to several other research projects, AK Steel is developing
products that help its automotive customers design lighter, more
fuel-efficient vehicles that maintain superior strength and safety
performance.
AK Steel
AK Steel is a world leader in the
production of flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel
products, primarily for automotive, infrastructure and
manufacturing, construction and electrical power generation and
distribution markets. The company's AK Tube subsidiary
produces carbon and stainless electric resistance welded tubular
steel products for truck, automotive and other markets.
Headquartered in West Chester,
Ohio (Greater Cincinnati),
the company employs approximately 7,900 men and women at eight
steel plants and two tube manufacturing plants across five states:
Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The company also
has interests in iron ore through its Magnetation LLC joint venture
and in metallurgical coal through its AK Coal subsidiary.
Additional information about AK Steel is available at
www.aksteel.com.
SOURCE AK Steel